From: pat Ballew <poetsoutback@yahoo.com>
To: Teacher2Teacher Public Discussion
Date: 2009120407:55:40
Subject: Re: Fraction notation in Algebra 1
I will actually go farther and suggest that as an aid to
understanding, it would be good for teachers to model (and suggest
that students) write the numerator and denominator of algebraic
fractions in parentheses. The Ubiquity of calculators have made them
a regular part of classroom instruction and evaluation, and yet many
of them still use the solidus (slanted bar) since they (often) write
out expressions on a single line. The student who wants to evluate or
graph (3x-5) divided by (2x+1) often ends up with a result of 3x -
5/(2x) + 1; even if the original problem was written with a horizontal
vincula.
I feel obligated to teach my students to use the technology that
becomes part of their evaluation proceedures.
Pat